Gwyneth, Chris Wedding Talk Heats Up

The couple, who announced that week that they are expecting a child next summer, applied for a marriage license in California's Santa Barbara County, "Entertainment Tonight" reports.

The application reportedly came two days after the pregnancy announcement. The Associated Press could not reach Paltrow's publicist, Stephen Huvane, for comment.

However, Mary Rose Bryson, a supervisor in the county recorder division, tells AP that Paltrow, 31, and Martin, 26, had not requested a public marriage license. Bryson explained that some licenses are granted confidentially and must be used in Santa Barbara County within 90 days.

According to reports, friends of the couple claim Paltrow and Martin want a low-key ceremony before family and friends. It has also been reported (but not confirmed) that Martin's parents, Anthony and Alison Martin, have flown to the U.S. from their home in Britain, and that Steven Spielberg is expected to give the bride away. (Her father, director Bruce Paltrow, died of cancer last year.)

Paltrow's mother, actress Blythe Danner, also has given the union her blessing, say reports.

In its issue last week, PEOPLE reported that Paltrow was only waiting for Martin to ask her before she would agree to wed.

But, PEOPLE added, the couple have taken a decidedly domestic turn. In mid-November they began house hunting in the leafy, upscale Belsize Park area of north London -- home to Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Kate Moss and Helena Bonham Carter. It's also the neighborhood where Martin maintains his bachelor pad, a loftlike flat.

Observers say he now spends most of his time with Paltrow in her $3.3 million townhouse in posh Belgravia in southwest London.